East Stroudsburg University Foundation Board members should have no further doubts about the need for a forensic audit of the fund they oversee.

The ESU Foundation board, which raises money for the university, meets today at ESU. Surely the discussion will turn to the lawsuit one current and five former ESU students filed just last week against the university, in which the students claim that the foundation's former executive director, Isaac Sanders, solicited unwanted sex with them, holding out scholarships or other gifts in implicit exchange. The suit also charges that top school officials, including ESU President Robert Dillman, covered it up.

The lawsuit marks the latest in a series of allegations revolving around Sanders and claiming misuse of Foundation funds. Controversy over Sanders and allegations of financial irregularities began to surface in the university community in the fall of 2007. One administrator who had worked for Sanders and who complained about such irregularities left ESU last summer after signing a nearly $140,000 private settlement agreement.

Last year the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education opened an investigation. ESU itself held two separate internal inquiries, but found nothing wrong. Last summer the then-foundation chairman Joe Heverin recommended that a full, forensic audit of foundation finances be conducted, but the board later opted not to do the audit.

ESU reportedly fired Sanders in October. Meanwhile university officials continued to claim that an audit showed no money was missing.

Yet the foundation's auditor, Concannon, Miller & Co. of Allentown, reported last October to the foundation's audit committee and board that foundation managers did not follow policy. The auditors' report noted that a scholarship payout policy and reimbursement policy were not followed in some circumstances. Concannon cited payouts of $545,000 in scholarships as a weak area.

In their lawsuit filed last week, the student plaintiffs claimed that Sanders held out scholarships, jobs and other financial gifts in exchange for unwanted physical intimacy. In addition to naming Sanders as a sexual predator and Dillman as covering up for him, the lawsuit alleges ESU Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Kenneth Borland and Associate Vice President for Diversity and Equity Victoria Sanders (no relation to Isaac Sanders) protected Isaac Sanders, their chief fundraiser, at the expense of students.

An independent accountant told ESU Foundation board members months ago that only a forensic audit — a more in-depth and detailed examination — would be able to determine whether foundation funds had been used fraudulently. A forensic auditor can quantify loss, subpoena personal bank accounts and check records from outside sources to identify possible fraud or affix blame.

All this controversy can be doing ESU's fundraising efforts no good.

The ESU Foundation Board should agree today to schedule a forensic audit. That would settle at least the financial questions, a necessary step toward restoring the confidence of past, current and future donors.